The Download: nominate an Innovator Under 35, and AI policy

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Nominate someone to our 2025 list of Innovators Under 35

Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 young innovators who are doing pioneering work across a range of technical fields including biotechnology, materials science, artificial intelligence, computing, and more. 

Previous winners include Lisu Su, now CEO of AMD, Andrew Ng, a computer scientist and serial entrepreneur, Jack Dorsey (two years after he launched Twitter), and Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot.

We’re now taking nominations for our 2025 list and you can submit one here. The process takes just a few minutes. Nominations will close at 11:59 PM ET on January 20, 2025. You can nominate yourself or someone you know, based anywhere in the world. The only rule is that the nominee must be under the age of 35 on October 1, 2025. Read more about what we’re looking for here.

How US AI policy might change under Trump

President Biden first witnessed the capabilities of ChatGPT in 2022 during a demo from Arati Prabhakar, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in the oval office.

That demo set a slew of events into motion, and encouraged President Biden to support the US’s AI sector, while managing the safety risks that will come from it. 

However, that approach could change under Trump. Our AI reporter James O’Donnell sat down with Prabhakar earlier this month to discuss what might be next. Read the full story.

This story is from Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 What’s next for Intel?
Its CEO has been given the boot, and his replacement will be tasked with turning things around. (WSJ $)
+ The departed Pat Gelsinger was firmly opposed to breaking the firm up. (Bloomberg $)
+ Five years ago, Intel was on top of the world. What happened? (FT $)

2 China has hit back at the latest US chip export restrictions
By banning shipments of critical chip minerals to America. (FT $)
+ Beijing accused the US of hindering normal trade exchanges. (The Guardian)
+ What’s next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Hackers are using AI to mine troves of personal data
The new tools make it much easier to weaponize sensitive information. (WP $)
+ The US government is trying to crack down on the sale of civilians’ personal data. (404 Media)
+ Five ways criminals are using AI. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Elon Musk has been denied a $56 million pay package for a second time
Still, he’s not exactly short of a few bob. (The Verge)

5 A network of women were duped into donating eggs to a disgraced billionaire 
The US fertility industry’s loose regulations have left the system open to abuse. (Bloomberg $)
+ Conservative politicians are spreading anti-contraceptive disinformation. (New Yorker $)
+ I took an international trip with my frozen eggs to learn about the fertility industry. (MIT Technology Review)

6 An AI agent could do your next Black Friday shop for you
It could spell an end to tedious price-checking and bargain monitoring. (TechCrunch)
+ What are AI agents? (MIT Technology Review)

7 A new fleet of US nuclear reactors is on the horizon
Similar major pushes have failed in the past. Will this time be different? (The Atlantic $)
+ Why the lifetime of nuclear plants is getting longer. (MIT Technology Review)

8 It turns out that fish have a brain microbiome
It raises the question whether humans could have one too. (Quanta Magazine)
+ The hunter-gatherer groups at the heart of a microbiome gold rush. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Why ChatGPT has become an emotional crutch for so many people
But beware using it to offload emotional labor. It’s only a chatbot, after all. (The Guardian)
+ The name ‘David Mayer’ causes ChatGPT to melt down, for some reason. (TechCrunch)
+ Here’s how people are actually using AI. (MIT Technology Review)

10 This Indigenous community may become Canada’s first climate refugees
The Western Arctic region’s permafrost is thawing, and the Inuvialuit will be forced to leave their homes. (NYT $)

Quote of the day

“It was a tough situation when Pat showed up, and things look much worse now.”

—Financial analysts from Bernstein warn investors that whoever takes over from departing Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has their work cut out for them, Insider reports.

The big story

How to measure all the world’s fresh water

December 2021

The Congo River is the world’s second-largest river system after the Amazon. More than 75 million people depend on it for food and water, as do thousands of species of plants and animals. The massive tropical rainforest sprawled across its middle helps regulate the entire Earth’s climate system, but the amount of water in it is something of a mystery.

Scientists rely on monitoring stations to track the river, but what was once a network of some 400 stations has dwindled to just 15. Measuring water is key to helping people prepare for natural disasters and adapt to climate change—so researchers are increasingly filling data gaps using information gathered from space. Read the full story.

—Maria Gallucci

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ If you love a good steak, here’s where you can track down some of the best.
+ Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker reflects on something truly terrifying: the workplace.
+ Happy birthday to the one and only Prince of Darkness!
+ The bar of the HR Giger Museum in Switzerland looks exactly how you’d expect it would—completely mindblowing.